Hardy's late heroics lift Galatasaray at Gran Canaria

Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul survived a do-or-die situation by topping Herbalife Gran Canaria 76-87 on the road on Wednesday. Galatasaray improved to 1-3 in the Group E standings, while Gran Canaria dropped to 2-2. Dwight Hardy led the winners with 21 points, Richard Hendrix added 13 points and 13 rebounds against his former team, DaJuan Summers had 12 points while Adas Juskevicius and Henry Walker each got 10 for Galatasaray. Ondrej Balvin paced Gran Canaria with 15 points and Gal Mekel and D.J. Seeley each had 14 for the hosts. Hardy and Summers combined for all the points in a 0-12 fourth-quarter run that gave Galatasaray the road win. A moment of silence was held before tipoff to honor former Gran Canaria star Greg Stewart, who passed away last weekend.

Mekel found Marcus Eriksson for a floater and added a turnaround jumper, but Alex Renfroe and Juskevicius each struck from downtown in a 0-10 run that gave Galatasaray a 4-10 lead. Xavi Rabaseda joined the three-point shootout and Eriksson scored again, but Summers and Juskevicius buried a triple apiece to make it 13-18. Hardy followed a jumper with a reverse layup, but Seeley, Anzejs Pasecniks and Nikola Radicevic kept Gran Canaria within 21-22 after 10 minutes. Jordan Taylor scored off a steal and Walker added a jumper for a 21-26 edge. Seeley and Balvin stepped up for the hosts, but a driving layup by Mehmet Yagmur kept Galatasaray in charge, 27-30. Balvin, Mekel and Nicolas Brussino combined for all the points in a 9-0 Gran Canaria run, but Walker struck twice from beyond the arc and added a backdoor layup, which gave the guests a 37-38 edge. A tip-in by Luke Fischer and a driving layup by Hardy fixed the halftime score at 39-40.

Aguilar hit a triple right after the break, but a layup by Hendrix tied it at 42-42. It didn't last long, however, as Seeley and a red-hot Aguilar each buried a three-pointer in a 9-0 run that gave Gran Canaria a 51-42 lead. Hardy and Taylor stepped up for Galatasaray, but Balvin hit a jump hook, dunked and added a reverse layup for a double-digit Gran Canaria lead, 59-49. Juskevicius nailed his third bomb from downtown and Ege Arar followed a layup with a dunk to keep Galatasaray within 62-57 after 30 minutes. Renfroe followed a three-pointer with a tip-in that tied the game at 62-62 early in the fourth quarter. Fischer and Seeley stepped up for Gran Canaria, but Summers and Hardy kept Galatasaray within 70-69 with over four minutes left. Hardy buried a triple and added a driving layup as the visitors took over. Gran Canaria struggled to score when it mattered most and a three-pointer by Summers sealed the outcome at 70-79 after a 0-12 run.

Head Coaches

CASIMIRO, LUIS

Herbalife Gran Canaria

"I was the only one who warned that it was a tough game. The game was closer until in the final five minutes, in which we struggled on offense and defense. This is a different team than last week, with two players who were not in Istanbul. They had a whole week to prepare the game with a new coach and were more solid than us. Our decisions were not the best to hold on to the win. We had the lead a few minutes before the end. We were anxious when we started to have problems, and have to admit our bad decisions which led to this loss. We still depend on ourselves to advance. If we win in Berlin, it would be like that. We lost a chance to be in a quieter situation in this group, but our chances to go through remain intact. It is always good to depend on your own results."

MAHMUTI, OKTAY

Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul

"We struggled a lot at the beginning of the EuroCup. We had a lot of injuries and a lot of problems. We tried to recover and have been practicing for a week, all together, trying to do our best. Our chances are not very high, for sure, but we are trying to compete and did it in the best way today. This is a tough court and a tough team, but we showed that we can play and it is very important for our future. It is not just the result: we are on the right way and have confidence. After our three big losses, when we had a lot of problems, having big hopes is not easy, but again, we are athletes and will compete until the last second. This is our target - like we did today, we will continue this way."

Players

RABASEDA, XAVIER

Herbalife Gran Canaria

"30 points in the last quarter are a lot of points. We have a problem on defense and we must try to solve it as soon as possible. We have time because we still can achieve all our goals, but the sooner the better.”

TOPALOGLU, CANER

Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul

"That's a very important and a very valuable win for us. We are still alive in the group and we will try to do our best to raise our chances of qualifying in the last two games."